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CU-Boulder study: Pikas fare better in southern Rockies than Nevada

More alpine habitat available in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico

By Laura Snider Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
09/01/2011 04:56:58 PM MDT

Updated:
09/02/2011 11:05:02 AM MDT

Pikas -- furry, round-eared, high altitude-dwelling cousins of rabbits -- are doing far better in the southern Rockies than in the Great Basin region, where their numbers have been dwindling, according to a new study by the University of Colorado. (Photo by Larry Master/Center for Biological Diversity)

Pikas -- furry, round-eared, high altitude-dwelling cousins of rabbits -- are doing far better in the southern Rockies than in the Great Basin region, where their numbers have been dwindling, according to a new study by the University of Colorado.

Scientists believe pikas, which only thrive in the colder temperatures of North America's mountainous alpine regions, are threatened by a warming climate. In Nevada's Great Basin, scientists have shown that the extinction rate for pika populations has increased by a factor of five over the last decade. Research has also shown that the remaining pika populations have moved about 500 feet higher in elevation.

But in the southern Rockies, pikas appear to be sticking around, according to CU doctoral candidate Liesl Erb, lead author of the study published in the journal Ecology. There is likely at least two reasons for this.

"There's just more habitat here above 10,000 feet," Erb said. "So there's a lot more alpine habitat, and that habitat is much better connected."

In the Great Basin, one peak with an elevation above 10,000 feet may not be connected to any other peaks with such a high elevation. But in the southern Rockies, even the passes between peaks may be well above 10,000 feet, allowing pikas to move between mountains to continually repopulate alpine areas.

University of Colorado researchers studied 800 historical records, some of which stretched back to the late 1800s, to determine the past locations of pika populations. Of those 800 records, only 69 were specific enough for the team to use and return to those locations and verify if pikas still lived there.

The result was that 65 of the 69 locations were still home to pikas. The researchers -- who included CU professors Chris Ray and Robert Guralnick -- also found that the four abandoned sites were all drier, on average, than the occupied sites, which may mean that more factors than temperature play into pika survival. For example, the size of the winter snowpack, which can insulate pikas against extremely cold temperatures, is also important.

"Many have assumed that warming temperatures would be the primary signal affecting North American pikas," said Guralnick, a co-author of the study, in a news release. "This study shows it is more complicated than that, and that drier conditions could affect the persistence of pikas across the West."

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